Newspapers in Seward County

Nebraska newspapers have been the subject
of a number of reminiscences published in Nebraska History
by the State Historical Society over the years. The September
1951 issue included the experiences of William H. Smith (1873-1954).
His "Fifty Years a Country Publisher" included his
newspaper experiences in Seward:

"That fall [1896] I felt I had served
my apprenticeship in a printing office, so I began looking around
for a newspaper of my own. Quite naturally my attention was directed
to Nebraska, and a want ad in the Omaha World-Herald brought
replies from three communities where newspaper outfits were for
sale-Harrison, Falls City, and Seward. And so, in the spring
of 1897 I resurrected a paper in Seward [Seward County Independent]
that had been suspended for the lack of patronage some four or
five months before.

"In those days nearly every county
seat town had from two to four newspapers. Seward had four, including
the one I purchased. The field as viewed from this distance,
was anything but inviting. . . .

"But the first years in Seward were
rather tough. Back in Iowa the editors used to receive cordwood
in payment of subscriptions. Out in this section of Nebraska
there was no surplus cordwood, but in 1896 there had been a big
crop of corn, and there were a lot of cobs on the farms. I advertised
to accept cobs in lieu of cash for subscriptions, having first
arranged with a newly organized co-operative creamery to take
them off my hands at a dollar a load. The money thus received
helped pay accumulating bills."